A double act with film world's hottest secrets

Could The English Patient, the hot favourite at the Academy Awards, be pipped at the post for Best Picture? Could Brenda Blethyn's dowdy, dotty mum in Secrets and Lies, the antithesis of the Hollywood glamour puss, really drive 'em wild on Oscar night?

Just two people know the secrets of tonight's Oscar results: accountants Frank Johnson and Greg Garrison, the little grey men from Price Waterhouse. For nearly 70 years, the firm has collected and counted the votes - 5,227 of them this year - that make film history. Mr Johnson, a 20-year veteran, and Mr Garrison will be picked up from their Century City offices today, carrying a set of envelopes in plain zippered briefcases. A team of eight tallied the results on Friday; the secret is theirs for 72 hours. "We do it all in one large room, but we use all parts of the room so that no one can see what anybody else is doing," Mr Johnson said. "Greg and I give out the ballots in small groups to the counters, so only Greg and I summarise the tallies and know for sure who has won."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences pays Price Waterhouse about $30,000 a year for the work - a snip compared to campaigns waged for the films by their producers and distributors, who can spend up to $4m trying to snag an Oscar. Academy members are routinely courted with private screenings, presentation videotapes, scripts, books, phone calls, and even home visits.